1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gurneys that can be used as operating room tables in a hospital environment. Additionally, the present invention relates to gurneys that can be used as a wheelchair. More particularly, the present invention the relates to gurneys that are adaptable for use as a patient support in the operating room in the field of arthroscopic surgery. More particularly still, the present invention relates to gurneys that have electromechanical mechanisms for manipulating the positions of the bed. More particularly still, the present invention the relates to hospital beds that have various accessories.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
Gurneys are often used in the hospital environment for patient support and transport. In particular, when a patient is taken to the operating room, the patient is placed upon a gurney and wheeled into the operating room. Once in the operating room, the patient is transferred from the gurney onto the surgical table so that the patient is in a proper position for surgery. The gurney is then removed from the operating room, or placed elsewhere, during the surgical procedure. Subsequent to surgery, the gurney is then returned to the operating room, the patient is placed upon the gurney, and then the patient is wheeled to other locations. The patient is also transferred from the gurney to a wheelchair when the patient leaves the hospital.
Unfortunately, the continual transfer of the patient from the gurney to the surgical table and from the gurney to the wheelchair, is inconvenient, time-consuming, tiresome and potentially injurious. Nurses, and other hospital personnel, often experience back pain, and other assorted injuries, during the transfer of the patient. Often, the patient must be physically lifted from the surgical table and placed upon the gurney and vice-versa. In other circumstances, the improper movement of the patient can adversely affect the surgical procedure or the results achieved from the surgery. As such, a need has developed whereby the gurney is actually used as the operating table and the wheelchair.
During the surgical procedures, the surgeon's instruments are often in a very inconvenient location. In certain circumstances, the surgeon must drape the cords associated with the instruments over the patient or route the chords through inconvenient arrangements. Cord management is a continual problem for the surgeon during any surgical procedure. In certain circumstances, the improper routing and location of the cords can cause an improper operation of the instrument or restrict the surgeon from his or her desired use of the instrument. As such, a need has developed so as to provide instrument holders for surgeons during arthroscopic surgery.
In the performance of orthopedic surgery and related procedures, it is often necessary to support a patient's body, including one or more limbs, in a fixed position during the procedure, and also to vary the position from time to time. Often times, it is desirable to maintain such a limb, for example, in a fixed position during the surgical procedure so as to keep the procedure area as clear as possible and avoid the limb interference. In some cases, operating room personnel manually support the particular extremity. For example, the assistant may have to stand on a platform in order to manually hold the correct angle while the surgeon carries out the operation.
Such use of operating room personnel to manually support a patient's extremities during a surgical procedure is undesirable in that the assistant becomes tired over time and finds it necessary to change positions at a critical or otherwise inconvenient times. This may lead, for example, to actual trauma to the structures of the body. Furthermore, the assistant is unable to observe crucial aspects of the operation itself. Moreover, in addition to possibly interfering with the light available to the surgeon, the height of the assistant may increase the chances of contamination of the operating field.
It is well known and appreciated that in surgical procedures, time is of the essence, and delays associated with adjustment of support equipment are unwanted. Additionally, during certain procedures, it is desirable to impose or to change a biasing force on a body portion or limb which is undergoing a surgical procedure or treatment. In view of the aforementioned shortcomings associated with conventional surgical techniques for supporting a patient's body during surgery, there is a strong need in the art for a surgical support apparatus in which the apparatus may be mounted onto an operating table or be otherwise relatively secured and positioned outside the sterile field in a way which affords for a quick and easy positioning and repositioning of the patient's body part.
In the past, various patents have issued related to gurneys as used for patient transport. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,801, issued on Jun. 10, 1990 to Scale et al., teaches a patient transporting and turning gurney for receiving and lifting a patient from a hospital bed, for transporting and depositing the patient onto the hospital operating table, and for lifting and turning a patient for surgery. The gurney has a U-shaped base. This base is of sufficiently small dimension to fit under a hospital bed and of sufficiently large dimension to straddle the sides of the conventional operating table pedestal. The gurney further includes an overlying stretcher support for supporting a rotatable stretcher frame. A longitudinally extending rotating stretcher frame is mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis on the stretcher support. There is provided a lifting device for moving the stretcher support upwardly and downwardly relative to the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,541, issued on May 12, 1992 to K. E. Wagner, describes anon-metallic gurney for patient transport. This gurney is formed of materials that are non-metallic, non-magnetic and of low electrical conductivity. This gurney is particularly used for modern non-invasive body scanning equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,537, issued on Sep. 18, 2001 to Hopper et al., describes a patient support having a frame supporting a patient supporting surface as well as a pair of foot rest mechanisms thereon. The pair of foot rest mechanisms are each selectively movable from a stowed position beneath the patient supporting surface to a deployed position. A drop-leaf foot section forms a part of the patient supporting surface. The drop-leaf foot section is movable to a vertically upright position so as to expose a space between the two foot rest mechanisms.
Additionally, in the past, various patents have issued relating to extremity positioners. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,324, issued on Apr. 1, 1986 to B. E. McConnell, describes a positioning apparatus for use in surgical operating procedures. This positioning apparatus includes one or more generally vertically extending support arms which are connected at their lower ends to universal positioner mechanisms. These mechanisms may be adjustably positioned along a support bar suspended from and substantially rigidly connected to the operating table. The positioning mechanisms include a ball-and-socket coupling including a spaced-apart support block having socket portions for forcibly engaging the block under the urging of a plurality of springs. A lever-actuated cam connects to a foot pedal to operably release the biasing force on the support blocks, whereby the position of the support arm connected at one end to the ball may be finely adjusted over a wide range of positions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,465 is continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,324.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,609, issued on Mar. 15, 1988 to B. E. McConnell, describes a surgical drape having limb-securing structures. A boot of conformable impervious material is attached to the surgical drape for receiving the patient's limb. The boot has a tubular sidewall defining a pocket which is joined in registration with the opening of the drape.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,756, issued on May 30, 1995 to B. E. McConnell, describes an arm traction device. This arm traction device has a traction bar in combination with a hand wrap, or hand-and-arm wraps, for suspending and orienting a patient's hand and arm in a substantially elevated position during a surgical procedure. The hand wrap is attached about the patient's closed fist and the traction bar is bendable. The traction bar includes hook-and-loop material so that the traction bar may be conformed to the hand and attach itself securely in place to the top and opposing side surfaces of the hand-wrapped fist so that rotational or traction forces may be applied to the hand and arm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,334, issued on Jul. 7, 1998 to Lamb et al., describes a limb positioning apparatus for surgery. This limb positioning apparatus has a structural member with a compartment having an opening thereto. This structural member is supported at a predetermined position relative to the limb and at a certain distance from the limb. A first line is linked or attached to the limb and connected to a constant force spring located within the compartment of the structural member. A second line is attached to the limb and is also connected to a constant force spring lying within the compartment of the structural member. The forces exerted by the first and second constant force springs are applied cumulatively or alternately to provide a pre-determined tension force on the limb of the patient thereby positioning the limp appropriately.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,135, issued on Sep. 28, 1999 to J. E. Molina, describes an arm holder for transillary first rib resection. This apparatus includes a support assembly, such as a sling, for supporting the limb during the surgical procedure, and a mounting assembly slidably coupled to the support assembly by at least one slide rod. The support assembly is vertically positionable relative to the mounting assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,176, issued on Jan. 4, 1994 to Chandler, describes a surgical operating table particularly adapted for shoulder arthroscopy. The table includes a central seat support, a leg support, and a back support modified to include detachable modular shoulder cut-out to gain access to the posterior aspect of the shoulder. The leg support and back support are hingedly connected to the seat support for positioning the patient in a seating posture by operating mechanical crank arms. The patient is first supported in a supine position, anaesthetized, secured to the table, and the table is thereafter configured to a sitting position. One of the modular shoulder cut-outs is then removed to provide access to the shoulder on which arthroscopy is to be performed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,406, issued on Jun. 19, 1973 to Koetter, discloses an adjustable bed particularly for use in hospitals and nursing homes for which a chassis is provided with at least one telescopically expandable pan, abed frame tiltable relative to the chassis, at least one lifting assembly being disposed on the chassis, and at least one foot for each extendable part of the span. The bed frame has a middle portion and two end portions hinged to the middle portion. At least one lifting assembly is disposed at each end of the middle portion of the bed frame for adjusting the bed frame to various elevated and inclined positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,846B2, issued on Oct. 19, 2004 to Schuerch, discloses an adjustable position shoulder arthroscopy chair for surgical operating tables consisting of a back supporting platform pivotally attachable to the end of the table and an externally powered position actuator mounted at the base of the platform nearest the table and pivotally mounted to the platform at a location spaced apart from the base. The actuator is extendable and retractable and may be powered either electrically, hydraulically, or by compressed air. The extension and retraction of the actuator is controlled by a suitable device within the actuator or remote from it.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,406B2, issued on May 20, 2003 to VanSteenburg et al., discloses a surgical table that has an articulated leg section with accessory attachment rails on opposite sides thereof. A shoulder surgery attachment for the surgical table includes a chair back assembly having a base on one end thereof and a cooperating second connector at each of its sides. Each second connector is releasably attachable to its corresponding first connector. A pair of mounting blades are provided on opposite sides of the base. A rail clamp is positionable along the attachment rails to be fastened to each of the attachment rails to provide a first connector at each side of the leg section.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,876, issued on Jul. 27, 1999 to Haigh et al., discloses a device for adapting a surgical operating table such that the upper torso of the patient can be raised in order to place the patient in a seated position, the device further providing the means of exposing or supporting a side of said patient's upper torso and limbs. The device contains a continuously adjustable positioning mechanism, and corresponding actuator for said mechanism, in a way that a user can rapidly and conveniently put a patient in the desired position, from a supine posture to a fully seated position. Additionally, the device does not render the surgical table permanently modified, as the process of modification is reversible by means of a simple attachment mechanism. The device uses a back support section hingedly connected to a base frame, this base frame providing the attachment support to the surgical table. Side support panels are either moved out of the way on the patient's operative side, or left in place to provide support to the unaffected side. Two embodiments are described that differ solely in the way the back support surface is implemented.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,450, issued on Apr. 21, 1987 to Thompson, discloses a multi-position bed such as is used in hospitals. The bed has a base frame supported on casters and having a pair of pivoted angled lifting arms. One lifting arm is pivoted in turn to an interlink pivoted to a pivot bracket. Another lifting arm is pivoted directly to a second pivot. Pivot brackets act as the pivot supports for the center section of a mattress platform which also comprises two side sections. The side sections are not hinged directly to the center section but simply have interengaging features in the form of side frame registers. When the bed is used as a turning bed the interengaging features disengage. The side sections are carried by pairs of links which join the pivot brackets to the side sections at points underneath the side sections. These side sections are also connected by side frame pivot arms to an end pivot frame at each end of the bed. The pivot frame is rigidly connected to the center bed section. The movement of the bottom links is restricted in a downward direction by bottom link stops. The links may be disconnected and the side sections connected rigidly to the center section so that the mattress platform can be caused to tilt bodily in a lateral sense.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,274, issued on Apr. 18, 1978 to Willis et al., discloses a turning bed which can be tilted mechanically to turn the occupant from side to side, comprising a tilting assembly pivotally secured to a bed frame of known type. The tilting assembly consists of a mattress frame longitudinally divided into at least three parts: a center section with an outer section(s) pivotally connected adjacent each longitudinal side of the center section. The pivotal connection is such that when the center section is tilted, the outer section(s) adjacent the raised side of the center section is/are tilted as one with the center section, and the outer section(s) adjacent the other side of the center section pivot(s) relative thereto. The center section is pivotally supportable from the bed frame, and can be tilted by a lever secured at one end to the center section, the other end of the lever being moveable (by suitable means such as a screw-and-nut arrangement) to tilt the center section.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,671, issued on May 25, 1971 to Koetter, discloses an adjustable bed that has a chassis, a bed frame disposed on the chassis, two or three hydraulic cylinder piston units disposed at the ends of the bed, an articulated connection between the cylinder and the piston unit and the bed frame so that the bed frame may be moved to various elevated and/or inclined positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,609,862, issued on Sep. 9, 1952 to Pratt, discloses a hospital chair with a base, a frame having three section, and a mechanical lifter that adjusts the height of the chair up and down. The sections of the chair fold up and down to change the chair position to a flat position. The height and positions of the sections are adjusted manually.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,377,649, issued on Jun. 5, 1945 to Quinney, discloses a convertible chair that converts from a chair position to a bed position. Various mechanical ratchets and spools accomplish the objective of changing positions of the chair. The chair has a frame with three sections. The ends of the frame have legs for supporting the sections on the floor. The position of the convertible chair is adjusted manually.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,101,290, issued on Dec. 18, 1936 to Pierson, discloses an invalid chair with a frame having four sections and a base with wheels. The position of the sections is manually adjusted to change the position of the chair from a chair position to a bed position. The base of the chair is of a fixed height.
U.S. Pat. No. 503,969, issued on Aug. 29, 1893 to Huddleston, discloses a corpse dressing table with a movable head section. The head section moves upward relative to the rest of the table so as to position the torso of a corpse at an angle relative to the legs. The table can be folded upon itself for storage and transporation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,300, issued on Sep. 2, 1997 to Micheldson, discloses a gooseneck instrument holder having an instrument holder tip, a gooseneck, a base and a detachable fiber-optic light cord. The tip, gooseneck, and base are connected by means of a cable which passes through a deflection member in the base. Tension on the cable is adjusted by a detachable handle at the base via a bolt and serves to simultaneously tighten the tip about an instrument, to hold the gooseneck in place, and to hold the base steady so that the holder holds an instrument in place. Very small amounts of turning of the handle is necessary to adequately tighten the holder in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,900, issued on Feb. 13, 2001 to Rathnakar, discloses a flexible shaft comprising a flexible outer tube containing a shaft core with specially designed links that closely fit within the smooth interior of the outer tube. The links are substantially rectangular and have a construction which limits a flex angle between links. The links may include stop surfaces which limit the flex angle to prevent kinking or to limit longitudinal movement of the links with respect to one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,432, issued Apr. 19, 2005 to Hsieh, discloses a ratchet socket for fitting onto a screwed member. The ratchet socket is drivable by a tool to wrench the screwed member. The ratchet socket includes a cylindrical main body formed with at least one internal circular hole and at least one through hole formed on the circumference of the main body and communicating with the circular hole, and a ratchet mechanism including a ratchet wheel rotatably disposed in the circular hole, a dog member movably accommodated in the through hole and a resilient hoop fitted around the main body to exert a resilient force onto the outer side of the dog member so as to keep the dog member resiliently engaged with the ratchet wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 401,681, issued on Apr. 16, 1889 to Brown, discloses a flexible power shaft that has a flexible sleeve made of leather or rubber, a helical wire coil enclosed in the flexible sleeve, and a chain extending in the interior of the helical wire coil. The shaft is made in sections coupled together successively. The two ends of each sections are similar so that the sections can be connected together end to end.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ambulatory surgical gurney that can be used as an operating room table and a chair.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ambulatory surgical gurney that is substantially made of plastic.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ambulatory surgical gurney with electromechanical lifting mechanisms.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an ambulatory surgical gurney with ends and sides that are independently angularly adjustable.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ambulatory surgical gurney that is light-weight.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ambulatory surgical gurney that can accommodate various accessories at the same time.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ambulatory surgical gurney that minimizes the need to move a patient between gurneys and operating room tables.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ambulatory surgical gurney that minimizes the need to move a patient between gurneys and wheelchairs.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an ambulatory surgical gurney that is optimized for arthroscopic surgery.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ambulatory surgical gurney that can be controllably positioned wirelessly and remotely.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.